India reiterates Sikkim Sector of its border with China not finalized

India has reiterated that its border with China in the Sikkim Sector is not finalized and the stretch does come under the purview of the boundary negotiators of the two countries.

New Delhi has remained firm on its stand even as Beijing has been insisting that the mandate of the two countries' special representatives for boundary negotiations does not cover the Sikkim Sector of the border, which is close to the Doklam Plateau - the scene of the last year's 72-day-long face-off between the Indian Army and the People's Liberation Army of China.

"India-China boundary in the Sikkim Sector is yet to be finalized," V K Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, informed the Lok Sabha.

Beijing had conveyed to New Delhi during the face-off at Doklam Plateau that the stand-off had been out of the purview of the special representatives appointed by China and India to negotiate a settlement of the disputed boundary.

It had argued that since the boundary between the two neighbours at Sikkim Sector had already been delimited by the 1890 convention between China and the United Kingdom, the bilateral mechanism led by the special representatives had no scope to negotiate this stretch.

The face-off at Doklam Plateau had come to its end on August 28 last year with both sides withdrawing troops from the scene.

India, however, stuck to its stand on the Sikkim Sector of its border with China, even as it resumed engagements with the neighbouring country to ease the strains in bilateral ties.

"It is part of the mandate of the special representatives of India and China on Boundary Question, who are engaged in discussions, to find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the boundary question, including the Sikkim Sector," Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a query.

The special representatives of India and China have been holding negotiations since 2003 to resolve the long-pending boundary dispute between the two nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is currently New Delhi's special representative for boundary negotiations with China. He had hosted Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi in New Delhi and had the 20th round of boundary negotiations on December 20 last year.

Doval and Yang are currently the special representatives of India and China for negotiations to resolve the boundary dispute between the two neighbours.